FCUSHistory - Ratification

Ratification:

How did the Federalists work to get the Constitution ratified?

they decided that only 9 states had to approve it instead of all 13
they argued that only a new government based on the proposed Constitution could overcome the difficulties facing the new nation
the nations newspapers strongly supported it
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote essays that supported the ratification in 1787-1788
they argued that the state legislatures lacked checks and balances
they took advantage of early ratification by some states and kept the momentum
they compromised with the Antifederalists by promising to consider a Bill of Rights after ratification

How did the ratification process work?

each state held a convention were they decided the ratify or not
delagates were specially elected to the convention where they ratified the Constitution
some of the states debated the new Constitution paragraph by paragraph
they then voted and a majority vote was needed to decide

Federalists:
Federalists were people who supported ratifying the new US Constitution. They were the people wh

Federalists

o set everything up for the Constitution and encouraged others to ratify the Constitution.

Some of the famous Federalists were....

Antifederalists:

Antifederalists were people who rejected and went against the Constitution. These people did not want to ratify the new Constitution.

Some of the famous Antifederalists were....

Arguments:
The Antifederalists did not want to ratify the Constitution
Their reasons included...

gave too much power to the national government instead of giving power to the state governments
there was no bill of rights
national governments could maintain an army at any time
states felt that the necessary and proper clause gave too much power to the federal government
the executive branch had too much power

Federalists had answers to all of their complaints

Because power was seperated into three independent branches it protected the rights of the poeple. Each branch represents a different aspect of the people and because all three branches were equal, no one group can assume control over another.
They thought the disadvantage of having a Bill of Rights would be that only those rights that were listed would be protected and anything not listed wouldn't be protected.

Fun Fact:
George Washington was actually considered neutral during this time, not Federalist or Antifederalist

Helpful Links:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/
http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html